up next on c-span2 we hear from attorney general garland then supreme court oral argument on the biden administration's authority to end the so-called remain in mexico policy implemented under president donald trump. today's white house briefing and the new white house covid response coordinator. attorney general garland was on capitol hill to testify on the justice department's 2023 budget request. he also faced questions about title 42 being used at the u.s. southern border, the opioid crisis and a recent surge in violent crime. the senate appropriations subcommittee hearing is just under two hours.

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[background sounds] this hearing will come to order when i remember to turn on my microphone. and we will take questions, for everybody's information, we wil take by appearance rather than seniority today, which i knoww will make all of you that arrived early very happy. and we are delighted -- i'm delighted to call to order this subcommittee on justice, science and related. the attorney general, merrick

garland, who is today's witness, the hearing to review the president's fiscal year 2023 funding request. a very good to see you again. and i'm sure as you know, we will have lots of senators coming in after he two week break there's a lot going on so i hope you will be patient. this year the president's fiscal year 2023 budget request for the department of justice is 39 billion. that's an 11% increase compared to 2022 enacted level for the department.. this budget provides a renewed focus and critically important areas like protecting civil rights, including the request for increased resources for thet civil rights division and community relations service to provide for more attorneys and mediators as well as supporting grant programs that address hate crime prevention. funding increases are also

requested for agencies and programs that strengthen annational security including additionalev resources to investigate domestic terrorism, combat foreign threats and prevent gun violence. it was also good to see the department's request for increased funding for many grant programs including nearly double the resources for the office on violence against women programs. funding requested for new programs including those in the office of juvenile justice and delinquency prevention seemed to be much needed in order to help youth and families especially after this pandemic. i hope we receive an allocation that allows us to fund long-standing as well asas newer programs at as high a little as possible. increased grant funding also means increased support for the policeg, departments. this budget request does include that, particularly for community orientedt policing services. but i would like to know the

subcommittee has included strong funding for law enforcement grants over the past several years, and i think that is a commitment of this committee. one area senator moran and i have worked closely as to ensure the funding receives study increases annually. for my state of new hampshire, the majority of support for the drug task force that works to keep illegal narcotics including fentanyl out of the communities and as we know, that epidemic opioid misuse has dramatically increased during the pandemic. we've also worked together on a bipartisan basis to increase funding for programs that improve relations and strengthen trust between police and the communities they serve. last year we provided a total of $201 million for these programs. this also includes overhauling the cops development program to

have dedicated funding for mobile crisis teams, police department accreditations and officer trainings. i'm pleased to see that the department seems to also like the way we've restructured this program and repackaged it as the just policing program in the budget request this year. now before i close, i want to thank the 120,000 career employees at the department of justice including law enforcement personnel and attorneys for their work to keep americans safe. i know it's been a challenging year with the country facing unprecedented threats from those that are newer and rapidly changing like cybercrime and those that are sadly familiarit like terrorism. your employees are meeting these challenges while continuing to work through a global pandemic and we all very much appreciate the work. i also want to thank all of those at the department for investigative and prosecuted the

terrorists known as the beatles including the murder of four americans, james foley -- the hard work of the u.s. attorney's office for the eastern district of virginia recently resulted in a guilty verdict and that not only sends a message to terrorists around the world that those that commit heinous crimes against americans are going to be prosecuted, but it provides a level of closure and justice for the families and those murdered. so, mr. attorney general, i look forward to the discussion today and with that i would like to recognize the subcommittee vice chair, my colleague, senator moran. >> senator shaheen, thank you for convening the hearing. before turning to the subject matter, i wanted to express my sincere appreciation for your stewardship of the fy 2022

appropriations process and thank my colleagues that are members of the subcommittee. the subcommittee held a seven hearings including a broadband hearing in january that i believe was one of the best that we have had in our tenure. we a produced a strong bipartisn bill in the senate even with complicated dynamics that were outside of ourd control and despite a very tough allegation, a very tough allegation we secured a final bill that makes critical investments into scientific research law enforcement, space exploration, economic development and u.s. competitiveness. it is a bill the subcommitteech can be proud of. thank you for your leadership and i am excited to continue to work with you and my colleagues as we come up with a 2023 appropriations o process. chairman garland, welcome to this hearing. kthis budget that is being grantted supports the programs under the newly reauthorized violence against women act which i was proud to cosponsor and programs that support local police and sheriffs departments.

i want to highlight these programs is a critical tool to address the shocking increase in violent crime including a 30% surge in u.s. murder rate, the largest single year increase in 50. unfortunately violent crime continues to lack the attention it requires. it is critical the department of justice supports state and local law enforcement both to grant programs and joint law enforcement operations. the budget includes an increase for fy 22 for the doj, however, rhetoric and behavior from thed administration too often sending a different signal. if law enforcement officers are not respected or shown respect from our leaders they will not be respected within the community. we've also seen an increaseen in attack on police officers. it's no surprise the departments police officers and sheriffs offices are shortstaffed having issues recruiting new police officers.

the budget request would undermine the board of prison -- the ability to maintain suitable modern facilities capable of delivering educational vocational mean fellowship programming. in addition, the request proposes new unauthorized grant programs intended to inhibit america's exercise of the second amendment rights. a budget request is ultimately u proposed allocation of resources and it's disappointing that these messaging programs were prioritized over the budgets critical missions fully addressing the surge in violent crimes. the request is a first step in the appropriations process and i look forward to working with you attorney generalit and with senator shaheen as we craft the 2023 appropriations bill. thank you. >> thank you, senator. i realized that the chair of the appropriations committee is here and i forgot to ask if he would like to offer some opening remarks. >> i just appreciate you and senator moran holding this.

i'm delighted to the attorney general is here. the country has the attorney general. >> thank you, senator. i will now turn over to you, senator garland. >> is this working? >> good morning. good morning chairwoman and the distinguished members of the subcommittee. thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. over the past 411 days that i've been attorney general, three coequal priorities have guided the work of the justice department keeping the country safe and upholding the rule of law. these priorities reflect the justice department's mission reflected in the president's fy

23 budget. the first funding priority is ps keeping the country safe from all threats foreign and domestic whether from hostile nationstates, terrorists or common criminals. as the country's chief law enforcement officer, i am committed to supporting members of law enforcement at all levels of government as they worked to protect the country while also safeguarding civil liberties s d ensuring our own accountability to the american people. to these ends, the president'srt fy 23 budget requests more than $20.2 billion to support the work of the justice department's law enforcement components and u.s. attorneys offices nationwide as they carry out their complex mission. these resources will strengthen the justice department's efforts to reduce violent crime and gun violence. to counter the multitude of serious threats to the country from terrorists, cyber criminals and hostile nationstates, to

combat the violent drug trafficking networks that are fueling the nation's overdose epidemic and to protect the nation's democratic institutions including the one we sit in today from violent attacks. in addition, the president proposed a totalal of more than $30 million in new investments over the next decade to support law enforcement by funding the police, preventing crime and accelerating criminal justice reform. in fy 23 alone, the president's budget requests more than $8 billion in grants for states and localities nationwide to fund the police including by putting more police officers on the beat and to implement community-based strategies to prevent crime and gun violence. the president's fy 23 budget also prioritizes protection of civil rights. we are seeking a 32% increase in funding for the civil rights

division as well as additional resources for the u.s. attorneys, the fbi, the community relations service and our office for access to justice. our civil rights work remains vital safeguarding voting rights, prosecuting hate crimes, ensuring constitutional policing and addressing unlawful discrimination. another area of environmental focus is safeguarding economic security, fairness and opportunity. this is reflected in the request for resources to protect the american people from intellectual property crimes, to reinvigorate antitrust enforcement and consumer protection, topr combat corporae crime and to bring to justice those who seek to profit unlawfully from the covid-19 pandemic. in particular, the department requests a total of $273 million, an increase of 41.6% for the antitrust division. to carry out its critical mission of promoting competition in the american economy and

protecting workers, consumers usand businesses alike. finally, we are requesting $11.7 billion to ensure the administration's of the courts and federal correctional systems. this includes $1.35 billion for the executive office for immigration review which i will be referring to to reduce the backlog by hiring more than 1200 new staff including approximately 200 immigration judge teams over the fy 22 22connected level. the requesttud for $8.18 billion for the bureau of prisons will help ensure the health, safety and well-being of more than 150,000 individuals and federal custody as well as the officers who protect them. this request would allow to hire 1300 new correctional officers and first step staff and would be used to support

rehabilitative programming and improve conditions of confinement. i respectfully ask for your support for the budget as the justice department works to uphold the rule of law to keep the country safe and protect civil rights for all. thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. >> thank you very much. for those people who came in a little later, let me point out we willh have a five minute questioning period and people will be called on an order of arrival rather than seniority because we are no longer doing any virtual hearings in this o committee. so i will begin. last month you announced the establishment of task force capture that was described as an interagency effort dedicated to enforcing sanctions and export restrictions and economic countermeasures against russia. targeting the crimes committed by russian officials, oligarchs and others who aid or concealas

unlawful conduct. i know that the country is watching very closely what's happening in the war. the unprovoked war against ukraine can you talk a little bit about where we are in terms of the interagency effort and the kind of cooperation you are getting internationally? >> yes, and i second what you said about what we are seeing on the news almost every day and being incredibly graphic videos of the horrible atrocities going on in ukraine. it's not just of the war. it's the way in which of the war is being prosecuted by the russian government. at the pictures of dead bodies, civilians in the streets bound with their hands behind their backs. bombing of civilian residential

apartments of a theater. all those pictures are the kind of things anybody growing up in the 20th century never expected to see inur the 21st again. every part of this government is doing its part. the justice department's role right now is to investigate and prosecute sanctions violations, so we have as you said the capture task force whose purpose is to go after the assets the treasury department has sanctioned as well as to go after assets that have been laundered against the money laundering statutes for criminal behavior by the russiane oligarchs. so in addition we are participating in the treasury department's task force which is the international task force

i've met with the home secretary's attorney general and the treasury secretaries of the participating countries. international cooperation has been superb, h really superb and heartwarming for law enforcement officers who often have to twist arms and beg for x traditions and other sorts of cooperation abroad. there is no resistance at all now. >> can you talk about how the department is going to be dealing with any recovered assets? >> yes. so, thent money would go into te asset forfeiture fund. so first thing we have to do is freeze the assets and second get a forfeiture. we would support legislation that would allow some of that money to go directly to ukraine. that is in the current

circumstance. the current circumstance the forfeited assets into the forfeiture fund. >> thank you. we will take that under advisement in the committee. let me say i hope these efforts will allow for future follow-up that will take a look at how corrupt money is being laundered and produce an effort to shut that down not just in russia but wherever it is occurring. one of the issues you and i discussed on the phone in advance of this hearing was my concern about how long it's taken to get some of the nominees approved for u.s.

attorney. one has been the challenge of getting the background checks are done on the nominees and i guess i would be interested in hearing whether there are more resources that need to be put toward that. we need to take a look at that process and see if there are changes that need to be made. then of course the other challenge is here in the senate with individuals holding up those nominees. so, can you speak first to what happens when we have u.s. attorneys and new hampshire the u.s.se attorney nominee it's ben over a year i think over a year now that she has been forwarded to the white house and is on hold. can you speak to the challenge with addressing crime around the country when we have the u.s. attorneys who are taking that long to get approved? >> the united states attorneys as well as united states marshals are the tip of the sphere to the effort to fight

violent crime. they are the ones who convene the taskforces in every one of the 94 u.s. attorney's office districts. the taskforces are combinations of all of the federal law enforcement and of the law enforcement agencies in the justice department as well as the law enforcement agencies of the department of homeland security and other federal agencies combined with state, local, territorial and tribal law enforcement. of these cooperative taskforces have been also cooperating with the local communities and that is the way in which the best attack on violent crime is possible to look at what's needed in the local area to identify the primary drivers that is particularly the repeat shooters to get them off the streets and to get themm in jail and to organize those things, we need confirmed united states attorneys. the work of the acting is

excellent but as everyone knows in order to establish policies and programs in any office it is important to have a permanent head, so i couldn't urge more strongly for the senatee to approve as swiftly as possible the nominees and the marshals nominees. >> thank you very much. is it fair to say that the hold up when people are holding these individuals up for other purposes that that has a negative impact on the ability to fight crime? >> i don't want to get into the inner workings of the senate, but what i will say is anytime we are not getting confirmed law enforcement officers, it does have a negative affect on the ability to fight violent crime, cybercrime, all the responsibilities of the united states attorneys and marshals. >> thank you. i won't quote you with that. i will say it myself.

senatorr moran. >> thank you. you are aware, and we talked about even yet this morning the tremendous increase in levels of violent crime. the rate has surged 30% in 2020. it's the largest increase in over 50 years in any single year but overall violent crime that includes assault, robbery and rd rape increased by 5%. joint operations between federal law enforcement and local and state law enforcement seem to be successful. we've had operationpe legend and director ray joined me in kansas earlier this year. we met with co state and local law enforcement and during the conversation, the kansas city kansas police department expressed his desire first of all how valuable the joint operations were and his desire to see more of them and of

course that isn't unique to the kansas city region of the state. to what extent are the joined law enforcement operations a part of the doj plan to combat violent crimes? >> they are the center of our strategy. in may of 2021 after i had been inin office just a couple ofar months i saw the same statistics you are referring to now about the rise in violent crime, the startling rise in 2020 which continued into 2021 and so i launched the first violent crime strategy for the department. that includes three pillars all of which are the ones you are talking about which is joint task forces among federal law enforcement, joint task forces between federal and state and local law enforcement and involvement of the community because it is essential that the community let us know where the bad guys are and who the bad guys are, so it is at the core of what we do. so the money we are asking for comes in i would say two

buckets. we are asking for more than $20 billion that's an increase of 8.2% for federal law enforcement and the justice department all of whom participate in these taskforces so that includes the u.s. attorneys officers, fbi, atf, u.s. marshals services. then wef are asking for $8.2 billion, which is an increase in 5.48 billion for grants for state and local law enforcement for sheriffs who are talking about, the police that you mentioned in your opening as well. this includes money for cops hiring and the grant the chair spokeg of that are used for the taskforces and some of it is used for investigative taskforces. that is the way we are able to create these joint taskforces so that's why i completely agree with your assessment.

>> you mentioned the u.s. marshals. i also would mention the u.s. marshals services regional fugitive task force is another valuable combination of global landrs federal services. let me turn to the 2021 doj office of the inspector general released a report that revealed multiple agents of the fbi that had mishandled the investigation into the former u.s. a gymnastics position larry nassar and subsequently lied about nttheir misconduct. i want to take this moment in your presence to again raise my strong concerns with the fact that it seems these agents have not been held fully accountable for what you've described as an institutional barrier. i understand it doj is reviewing its earlier decision. this is an issue senator blumenthal and i pursued in the commerce committee, but you are

reviewing the decision not to criminally charge these agents. could you provide me a status update as to where this issue lies? >> you are right this is a horrible institutional failure. it's almost unspeakable. it is unspeakable what happened to those gymnasts and also the way in which the investigation failed to proceed. we have created institutional changes in that regard to make sure it doesn't happen again. there are procedures and the deputy attorney general has issued memorandums in the field so that y another a u.s. attorney's office or law enforcement decides not to follow up they immediately advise state and local law enforcement so that they can continue. your description of, so the questionan of the investigationo the fbi's internal disciplinary work is still in progress.

the question of reopening the earlier declaration is in the hands of the assistant attorney general foror the criminal division whose continuing to review the matter. does that mean the fbi made a report to that official that is now reviewing that report? >> i think it is the referral came from the inspector general's report, so it's a report that you are aware of that was given to criminal division to review the earlier decisions. >> thank you. >> thank you, senator lady? >> thank you, chair. attorney general as mentioned earlier i'm glad you're here this morning. the time is short so i will get right to questions. signed into law last year and we

passed this legislation to give a much-needed steady stream into the crime victims fund that helps crime victims all overpa e country. a major piece of the legislation was the prosecution agreements if we deposited in the crime victims fund. now i understand sizable deposited the first month of implementation but it's been deferred and the agreements are actually quite low across octoberpo and november for exame they had a total around a million dollars. what accounts for such low deposits from what it used to be? is the department concerned it

may end up with a zero balance in the crime victims fund? >> that is going to be a complicated answer but i will do the best i can. i may have to refer to the assistant attorney general's office who knows the details of the numbers far better than i. but i will see ifo i can walk through where we are here. the fix that we greatly supported and greatly are appreciative of allowed the money to include the deferred prosecution agreements which were not available before. the deputy attorney general sent a memorandum to all united states attorneys offices and the fbi and law enforcement to ensure that the money that comes from the deferred prosecution agreements is tagged for the victims of crime fund so we are making those changes. >> is it making it clear that that is a priority?

>> yes. the money must be put in and it's a priority to make sure that that happens. you are right that in september, my figures $254 million was deposited which was the largest monthly deposit in the last four fiscal years that was immediately after the fix cameas into effect. in fy 22, the numbers i have the first sixth months or $409 milln in the fund. these are cyclical and go up and down. itan depends on where there wasa prosecution agreement and whether there were forfeitures there's not enough information yet to know. >> to make it clear it is a priority that it goes there we

inhave put it into this committe of the appropriations committee as part of the omnibus appropriations package because we are concerned the normal course of events. but. native americans and lgbtq community, sexual exploitation

of minors. as the department going to depao support the new programs enacted, and will you make sure that your budget shows that? >> the answer is yes. i am not sure which programs. >> we came together to get through but i also want to make sure that we have the funding and that you have what you need and lastly i will submit this for the record because i see that my time is up, you recently issued the freedom of information act guidelines. i am concerned about the enforcement of it so i will also

submit a record on that and appreciate your answer. >> thank you. senator collins. >> thank you madam chair. welcome, mr. attorney general. the administration has taken conflicting positions on whether or not the covid pandemic constitutes a public health emergency. could you please explain to the subcommittee how the department can justify arguing in court that the pandemic has subsided enough to warrant the termination of title 42, which will worsen the problem of tens of thousands of unvaccinated migrants illegally entering the country while at the same time

arguing in a separate case that the public health consequences are dire enough to warrant the compelledt usage by americans on public transportation? >> thank you, senator. i think that it's important for me to explain the role of the justice department which is not to make judgments on public health or judgments about policy in either of the two areas that you are raising but rather to make determinations about whether the programs and requests of the agencies that are responsible for those are lawful so with respect to the mask mandate i think that this is quite transparent, the announced the assessment that this washe a program that was continued to be necessary in the

confines of airplanes and public transportation. the onlym question for us is tt it's lawful and they asked us to appeal so we have appealed. with respect to title 42, it's the same analyses from our side, from the justice department's side. the only question here is the cdc's program and the cdc's announcement and its assessment. we defended the program as long as it is lawful. we don't make the public health determinations that you are speaking of. >> and i understand that and i think the cdc has put the justice department in an unattainable position of arguing one position in one case and a completely conflicting position in another case. but i understand that you don't

make the public health determinations. let me switch to another consequence of the uncontrolled southern border. between september 2020 and september 2021, more than 140,000 americans died from drug overdoses. in maine we set a horrific new record of 636 people that died from drug overdoses. that was a 23% increase from the previous year. in 2021 the drug enforcement agency found more than 12,000 grams of fentanyl. that's a 67% increase from the previous year. just three months into this year, agents tell me that they

have already ceased half of last year's total. law enforcement officials in maine and elsewhere tell me that these drugs are gradually entering the united states through the southern border where resources that could be targeting drug interdiction are instead being diverted to help with the influx of migrants illegally crossing the border. do you agree that the government's inability to secure llthe southern border has led to more drugs coming into the country? >> the opioid epidemic and particularly thehe influx of fentanyl is just horrifying and extraordinarily sad for the large numbers of americans who are becoming addicted and who have become addicted.

the job of the justice department is to fight the large-scale drug trafficking organizations that are bringing this money, these drugs into the country and that's the reason we have asked for large increases for all of our antidrug programs. the dea asked for $102 million increase, which is for a total of $3.1 billion to fight the very issues that your speaking of. the u.s. marshals service asked for a billion dollars for drug trafficking fugitive capture. the u.s. attorney's office is $106 million, the fbi, $161 million. the criminal division $46.9 million including regional opioid taskforces and the cops grants the money that we are giving includes the money for the antihero and an anti-m and s

taskforces. so, wee are doing, we are asking for all theud money that we can get and we are not stopping here. if you don't know, i announced at the end indictment and extradition of the former president of honduras to the united states to face justice for organizing drug trafficking coming out of the northern triangle. we will be persistent in that effort.he >> senator manchin. >> thank you mr. chairman. thank you, senator garland. i want to thank you for your continued support of public service. wean appreciate very much your position. i always believe a healthy democracy depends on a voting system that is accessible, free, fair and secure. history will tell us we've come a long way ensuring individuals regardless of their race or affiliation have the ability to cast their vote and we agree we

have a lot of work to do. i am particularly concerned about the recent opinions and the rulings that seem to undercut decadeses of the president under thehe voting rights act. specifically in february a federal district court and organs all ruled that only the u.s.ca attorney general has standing to enforce section two of the voting rights act. the court found that it would be appropriate to apply the right of action to enforce section two of t the voting rights act, so your opinionng on that, that interpretation whether you agree or disagree and what impact if any could this have on the voting rights adopted across the country? >> very good question, senator. on the first question normally i don't sort of opined. on this case i have so i don't think it hurts any to do that. we have filed across the country and a number of the cases. we believe there is a private right of action to enforce. it's always been assumed that

was the case since the act was passed in the mid 60s and no one has ever questioned it i think until just this year. to the second point, the consequences of the justice department being the only ones who can bring voting rights cases, i'm going to be blunt you're going to have to give us a lot more money if the justice department has to bring every single case to enforce the voting rights -- >> i'm sorry to interrupt you but the pros and cons would it be too much litigation if you had everybody able to declare that they had been infringed upon and we don't see that going any further. we have all these discussions in the kennedys but we are trying to get clarity on that but it seems the person has't that rigt but it hasn't been exercised. i haven't seen it go any further so i don't know how it's been a strain on the court system. >> i i haven't done in an analys

of the system but this has been the little bit we've had since the mid 60s. i never heard any complaints that it is taxing the court system either way. >> if i could switch on that, that's helpful. on the price gouging, we hear a lot on the price gouging right now and we saw that when we first had covid brought to our attention back in march of 2020. we saw that with and 95 masks, to clorox wipes, toilet paper and now again this time with fuel prices and food prices and things of that sort. should there be a criminal price gouging statute? >> this is a matter of debate and i trust and economics. i would like to hold off on that but our staff would be happy to work with you.

>> what constitutes you all basically taking it under your surveillance if you will acceptable prices for scarce products what constitutes the acceptable price? market demand and things of this sort, global pricing? >> for us the questions are unlawful agreements to fix the prices and exclusionary behavior by the monopolies, so if we are in either of those circumstances that exclude competition it falls under the antitrust law and likewise agreements on prices between competitors. >> i want to follow-up also on senator collinsmp concern on the opioid epidemic. myself and senator o-uppercase-letter and west virginia have been number one is for us getting slammed with this. can you speak to the status of the current efforts to curtail the crisis and including the appalachian regional description opioid or what we call the

strikeforce? >> that is included in the request for the funds.qu i'm not sure whether that is the one that comes under the office of justice programs were under the criminal division, but those taskforces, both meth and heroin concerned the last time we spoke into the opioid one that you're talking about -- >> we need your support for that. >> and we have support expanding those and if we get the money -- >> very quickly i introduced to the enforcement act that would amend the suspension order standard review from a substantial likelihood of ann immediate threat to standard to a probable cause standard. that is again order standard from the likelihood of an

immediate threat to a probable cause standard. so, what additional authorities do you believe that they need in order tome effectively stop the flow of the prescription opiates and other illegal drugs because of substantial likelihood is pretty broad and a probable cause we know what the intent is. >> ier think all of us our stats have been ravaged by this addiction we have and the drugs continue to flow.ve it might give a better chance to fight this but if you can look into the language if you all can support the enforcement and authority act.

>> could you pull the microphone closer to you? >> i think the justice department is losing on crime and drugs and immigration. i think you're losing on chinese espionage. let me start with crime. what percentage of cops in america do you think are bad cops? >> small percentage. i don't have a number.

we believe most police officers follow the constitution and their practices. most police officers do in most officers want to work in police departments that follow the constitutional policing requirements. >> is it less than 5%? >> i don't have the numbers, it probably is but again i don't have any numbers for you. >> do you think most cops are racist? >> i do not. >> what percentage do you think in your judgment i know you can't give an exact figure but do you think are racist? >> i'm not resisting because i have a number i can't give you. i just don't have any way of making that evaluation. >> is it less than 5%? >> i do not get answers from my tigut. >> do you think it is less than 5%? >> i don't know the answer. why doesn't the justice department support stop question

and frisk? >> you mean stop and frisk? >> i don't know that the justice department has a position. this is a state and local. >> do you thinkdo it works? >> i think in some circumstances it can but of course it can be of abused. >> why doesn't the justice department aggressively encourage law enforcement officials to use that technique? it's been declared unconstitutional, as you know. >> the supreme court affirmed the constitutionality, that is nsexactly right but the federal government doesn't do patrolling. one of the country's chief enforcement officials and what

you say matters. chicago is the largest outdoor shooting range. we know that a lot of them come from gangs. why wouldn't you want to call the police chief and mayor in chicago and say you know who these gang members are when you have a reasonable suspicion and objective standard more than just a hunch, why don't you aggressively stop, question and frisk theti gang members, you gt guns off the street, guns off the street and a lot of gang members off the street and stop people killing each other. why won't you do that? >> the best way for the federal government is not a violent crime is to work at each local

level to determine and let the state and locals determine the best use -- >> there is no one solution fits all that the federal government can suggest to state and local law enforcement. we believe state and local law enforcement knows best what to do there. we provide our technical expertise and lots of resources into the joint task forces. >> i've got to shut this down i only have 15 seconds. is that why you are asking in the middle of the inflation for 7% more, $2.63 billion from the technical advice? we are going backwards on crime, general. you are the chief law enforcement officer and you

won't even answer my question about how you feel about stop, question and frisk. >> it is a resource allocation issue for each local law enforcement. i believe the justice department does the best byes putting the money that we are asking for his increase that can be assisting state and local -- >> is that what we are supposedo to tell the mothers of those kids getting killed in chicago? you don't understand it is a resource allocation issue. >> what you're supposed to tell the motherset in chicago and wht i told them when i was there is the justice department was there to provide all the resources that the subcommittee would give us to stop the violent crime. that is a question for the state and local, i'm sorry, the state and local law enforcement.

>> i want to start with some thanks to you and president biden and the team at the justice department for implementing something that many of us have pushed for for a long time which is a final rule with respect to ghost guns. these of course our weapons you can buy them over the internet in pieces quickly, assemble them and just like a regular firearm but one major difference they do not have serial numbers, which is why they are becoming the weapon of choice by criminals in my state of maryland and places like baltimore city so i want to applaud you for moving forward on that effort and also applaud thee president for nominating a director, a good candidate and i hope the senate will confirm the nomination expeditiously.

they've gone headless foror way too long as you know and we need a strong atf to crackdown on illegal gun trafficking among other issues. as you know, congress has brought back a congressionally y directed spending so that we can try to target resources where the communities say they are needed the most and senator cardin and i worked with this committee to channel important resources to address the serious violent crime problem in baltimore city. there is no oneness solution, but we provided a series of resources for community-based crime and violent prevention programs, community policing. so my question, baltimore city is waiting on those fronts. how quickly, can you give your commitment that we can get those out the door quickly?

>> if you give us the money we can get them out the door quickly. an important part of our ability to fight violent crime and baltimore andic other locations where it is a very serious problem is having prosecuting the cases. the federal government has strongerre -- >> i'm talking about money we have already appropriated either the department of justice or treasury to get the money out the door. as far aspr i know the prioritys to get the money out the door. it doesn't do any good to keep it i assure. we like to encourage the team to get it out because it is a serious situation. with respect to resources for

the u.s. attorney in maryland, for the atf, for the u.s. marshals service in maryland we have seen some increases over the last couple of years and i want to thank you and your deputy attorney general who's had a series of phone calls with senatorin cardin and myself, but we do need more resources. we have a serious problem in baltimore city and we do have good cooperation between the federal government, state and local jurisdictions. can you talk specifically about the resources and how they can strengthen the ability to get more resources to baltimore city? ...

>> . >> that we have the more we are able to expand allocations but i look forward too supporting the budget request. and i have a statement here mr. attorney general. and on a bipartisan basis needing a new consolidated headquarters with the security requirements and from the previous administration and to

direct the general services administration to select one of those three earlier identified sites for the new fully consolidated fbi headquarters. has the chief enforcement officer we expect you to work with us to make sure the law is followed and i am confident you will do that. thank you madame chair. >> thank you ranking member for horry - - for holding this hearing and being back today. something that is of a great concern to my constituents and that is the matter of the hunter biden investigation you received a great deal of press but have you been briefed on

the matter yourself? >> as i said even in my own nomination confirmation hearing is being run by and the united states attorney for the districtti of delaware. >> he is supervising an investigation and i am not stthat liberty to talk about justice department deliberations but he is in charge of that investigation there will not be interference. >> are there any officials beingce briefed quick. >> again he is the supervisor of this investigation. but he is a supervisor. >> .

>> is that appropriate for the president of the united states to tell you his son did not break the law regarding this matter? >> and the president has not done that and has committed not to interfere but in the other kind. >> i agree. >> but i do wonder that why the president is resorting to tv and have his surrogates go on and the president is confident his son did break thee. law and that president biden maintains a position that his son did nothing this is on national television the president already told his subordinates these are people he can file or - - fire at will how can the american people be confident this administration is conducting ae serious investigation.

>> and with the trump appointee that for the district of delaware because you have made from any influence from the white house. >> the observation here is critical because there's an obvious conflict of interest because those who areou investigating the biden family and their enterprise can be fired by the family who's being investigated. he can have an impact on all staffing. under what circumstances how do you evaluate how you appoint special counsel? >> this is a fact and law question depending upon how cases go forward on the question if the justice department with the normal process should continue.

but the special counsel's are employees of the justice department we don't have an independent counsel statute anymore.sl both the democrats and republicanspl experimented and then either side liked it and that's why we ended up with the law not being we authorize. in any event the special counsel is also an employee of the justice department. >> you have any consideration whether to do this quick. >> internal deliberations stay with the department. >> there is an obvious conflict that raises concerns. i would like to turn to public evidence. the energy company that paid hunter biden to sit on the board and also paying three.59 about the same time. all of this while president biden was running portion of

foreign-policy in the united states including ukraine. hunter biden e-mail from 2010 j our be bills discusses paying for the upkeep of the joe biden lakefront home. another 2010 e-mail to hunter saying your dad just called me. he could use some positive news about future earnings potential. biden salarye and lifestyle tax-free was not enough to support his lifestyle. also hunter biden business partner made nine visits toid the white house between 2009 and 2013 emmett with joe biden in the west wing and text message to say don't worry unlike pop i will not make you

give me half of your salary. seems like he was serving as vice president running foreign-policy at the same time his son what was bringing in money from business deals to benefit vice president biden. do you have any reason to dispute the evidence that he was involved with these deals? mail following the long-standing role that we don't discuss investigationste or evidence that may or may not be relevant to investigations. that is a matter for the united states attorney's office investigating the case. >> the attorney general has requested a break. so we will try to get to more senators in than we will have a ten minute break and then take up the rest of the questions. >> thank you very much.

thank you for being here. i will try to get through five questions. what if any plans for her prosecutorial discretion for noninterference in states and territories and tribes where marijuana is legal quick. >> as i understand our role with respect it is the same with respect to states. and i laid this out also in my confirmation hearing. that thevi justice department has almost never prosecuted use of marijuana and that is not an efficient use of the resources given the opioid and methamphetamine epidemic that we have. >> let's move on.ph

let's talked about oversight there has been sexual abuse cases across the country. what is the department going to do? >> this is another terrible set of events. we have prosecuted a number of the individuals responsible.av we have put in place a new warden within the last three weeks which the deputy attorney general has a task force to investigate and determine what the procedural failures wereer and how they can be prevented in the future and the matter is referred to the inspector general for the internal investigation. >> the doj will lead at least

consider supporting the reestablishment of the interagency law enforcement group to oversee and provide recommendations for federal programs that include the transfer or sales of controlled equipment to law enforcement? this comes up periodically. this is a space this can be done intelligently. we see this from other programs where the equipment is transferred to local departments and can be very useful or overkill. so were trying to figure out what they need or two over armwh local police forces. >> i appreciate you not asking for a commitment that any consideration requires interagency discussion i would be happy to consider that.

>> . >> we don't have a halfway house does the department have the interim set of measures to ensure that the hawaii halfway house still have access to services? >> as we have discussed before we have had problems expanding in hawaii for a number of reasons. which is the providers are very scarce. >> final question. what is your position on clemency quick. >> this goes into applications

go to the pardon attorney making recommendations so i will not comment. >> can you comment where we are in the process quick. >> we don't know an application has been made. i read about this in the press i don't know anything more about it. >> certainly not with the deputy attorney general. it has not crossed my desk. >> thank you t very much. >>ha think you. i will notu ask a question but i want to begin by expressing my deep concern of the flow of sentinel from the southern border. senator manchin mentioned west virginia.

senator collins brought this up as a big issue. we've had meetings over the last two weeks and sentinel is the killer. it is coming up through the southern border. i would impress upon you how absolutely critical it is that the situation at the southern border has got to get better. i understand the demand side drives this but if we can cut the supply and think we can cut a lot of tragedy out of people's lives and you know that well. according to the pandemic a significant increase of first time gun owners almost 60 percent in 43 percent of asian american. and of course i want to see her second amendment rights protected but those that run the background checks go toee west virginia.

do you have any kind perception as to why gun ownership is up among different groups and during the pandemic it's bigger in all groups what do you attribute that to and what kind of strain is this honor system quick. >> i'm sorry this is the k analysis i cannot make up or even guess that. the second question i can the more difficult it is for the system asking for any increase of six.2 million dollars and with the president's budget to increase the number of sales. >> we went accurate records and good records and working 24/7 as you know recently fbi director ray stated 50 percent

increase of police officer killings killed at a rate of every five days this is alarming to me. and it is occurring at ambushes and attacks. $30billion of mandatory spending for law enforcement help. what he looking at in this area? i know hiring is an issue but this is very concerning to me. >> it is extraordinarily concerning to me and all the 120,000 members of the justice department who are involved in law enforcement. these are brothers and sisters that are targeted directly or killed in the line of duty and some time as a consequence of suicide.

so we have an overall task force involving investigating threats which includes threats against lawl enforcement. >> are you seeing the threats go up quick. >> yes. extraordinarily. and i don't know about the number cited buthe that sounds right. the number is extremely worrying. >> i like to see the focus go into this precise issue. that is deeply troubling as well. a lot of it is a lack of respect in certain areas of the country. we are having trouble hiring in and we try to do reform and could not get it across the finish line to help local law enforcement recruit, train and do bias training that are issues within theen police department. but i am very concerned about this.

and that is a division to combat climate crisis the reason im interesting - - interested in this there is a lot of enforcement and other places on environmental justice to create a new office. are these directives coming from the white house? why now and with all the other efforts through all the different cabinet positions in the government that you put a high priority on right now quick. >> it's not the division but in office with an already existing environment and the reason was there is responsibilities so the coordination of environmental

justice issue requires coordination. >> is that not being handled in other areas? >> honestly i don't know. >> and we have the environment stdivision. and we want to have coordination between the two. >> i mentioned three things i would put in frontnt of this. thank you so much. >> now we will take a break and then we convene at 11:30 a.m.